Growing 'trial and error' style in Gravesend

Dead toms disaster

Alas, tragedy has struck this allotmenteer. There has been anger and disbelief at my misfortune. And no one to blame but myself. Yes, that’s right; I killed all my tomatoes in one foul swoop. I’m so annoyed at myself because I was almost smug that I had managed to be organised and sow ahead of schedule. I was delighted with the idea that I had 30 Tom plants and I had the luxury of choosing a select few to put in the greenhouse and have back ups. Like all best laid plans it doesn’t always work out as envisaged. 2 days ago it was very hot in Gravesend and I set out the plants in a gravel tray with water in on the balcony. I returned at the end of the day to find half had been fried in the sun and the other half had taken a good hiding but were hanging on to life. I realised that the balcony flagstones are gently sloping and the half that were dead had no water during the day whereas the half that were in need of intervention had drowned. Yesterday I resowed the ones that were dead but today the other half had also died. So I have sadly resown the others tonight. Sometimes gardening mistakes suck but I suppose the bright side is that seeds are cheap and time is on my side. I will strive to do better next year but for now I will think happy thoughts and show you pictures of my successes instead.

Some of my seedlings in the morning sun on the front balcony

My perennials. Dames rocket being my ultimate favourite for scent and number of flowers. Fig and citrus trees are coming back to life. Hooray!